The Indian deity Skanda, son of Siva (Shiva) and general of his army, who became a protector of the Dharma in Buddhism. The names Sukanda 塞建駄, Shikenda 私建陀, Kenda 建陀, and Ida Shougun 韋駄将軍 (General Ida) are also used.

In Chinese and Japanese mythology,Ida-Ten is the God of law, truth, purity, legal victory and justice. He is a protector of monasteries and has miraculous speed. Ida-Ten is a popular protector of the faith and the general-in-chief under the lokapalas, the regents of the four quarters. A protector of Monks, he is generally represented both in China and in Japan as a young man dressed in the attire of a Chinese general, either leaning on his weapon, which rests on the ground, or with a sword lying across his folded arms. A guardian king of the south, his images have been set up facing the main sanctuary of a temple. He is supposed to have a violent temper, which portrays him to be a warrior deity.

After the Buddha had entered Nirvana, a swift-footed demon stole one of the teeth of the cadaver and escaped at great speed. Ida-Ten witnessed this, and pursued immediately, bounding over mountains and across rivers, until he finally trapped the thief and retrieved the relic. The Japanese expression Ida-ten hashiri (to run like the wind) derives from this story.